EMPLOYEE COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
May 18, 2000

TOPICS DISCUSSED

-COUNCIL MINUTES
-SPECIAL MEETING UPDATE FROM 5/2/00
-EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION AWARDS
-EMPLOYEE OF MONTH
-EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AND HONOR WALL
-MEETING WITH DR. McINTYRE and ALL EMPLOYEE FORUM IN THE FALL
-PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION
-DELEGATE FOR INSTRUCITONAL SUPPORT: UNIT B
-HUMAN RESOURCES ANNOUNCEMENTS
-TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
-ADJOURNMENT
-NEXT MEETING
COUNCIL MINUTES
Minutes were approved as read. The newsletter is being distributed on GroupWise to all classified staff. Paper copies will be sent to Facilities Management, Housing, and Dining Services. Those departments have some employees without general e-mail access.

Everyone can access the minutes via the Internet. Just go to the CWU home page; click on "Administration", then on "VP Business and Financial Affairs", then on "meeting minutes." From here you will see a list, click on "Employee Council." (Past and present minutes are listed by date.) www.cwu.edu/~hr/minutes

SPECIAL MEETING UPDATE FROM 5/2/00
Cheryl McKernan and Tamsin Swain explained to the council what the Academic Skills area is responsible for and also asked why their area was listed as a weakness in the CWU’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats lists that was discussed at the 5/2/00 Special Meeting of Employee Council. After discussion, it was determined that there was some confusion as to the responsibilities of Academic Skills. Further discussion regarding the areas of financial aid and academic advising led to the consensus that it is the financial aid issues at the federal level and lack of advising that full-time faculty give to general education students that concerned Employee Council members. The Employee Council believes that the advising coming from the Academic Skills area is excellent and much needed. It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the 5/2/00 Special Meeting of Employee Council be changed by taking out Academic Skills as the number one weakness at CWU. Motion carried.

EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION AWARDS
The employee appreciation awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, 5/24/00.

EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
This is the first month of the new cycle for this year’s employee of the month awards. If you have a favorite co-worker who deserves the extra recognition, now is the time to nominate him/her. The sub-committee for the Employee of the Month selection was not able to meet to look at the new candidates. We will select two candidates next month.

The form for nominating a co-worker as Employee of the Month is available at www.cwu.edu/~hr
Scroll down and click on Employee of the Month Nomination Form.

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR and HONOR WALL
The Employee Council members reviewed the ballots to chose among the last twelve Employee of the Month winners. The ballots will be distributed May 31, 2000 with a return date of June 8, 2000. The employee of the month winners from last year are: Bonnie Petersen (Athletics); Margaret Taylor (Facilities Management); Kathleen McDaniel (SeaTac Center); Teri Bangs (Human Resources); Bob Guptill (Athletics); Kari Taylor (Foreign Language); Joanne Stevenson (Academic Services); Shawn Fagalde (Conference Program); Charlene Kauzlarich (College of Education and Professional Studies); Judy Paul (Student Financial Services); Barbara Hinchliff (Central Services) and Ioana Dinu (Library).

The award, including a check for $1500 from the President’s Discretionary Fund, will be given during the Honors Convocation when faculty awards are presented. The Employee of the Year recipients have their portrait on the "Honor Wall" on the third floor of Barge Hall. Past winners are Becky Baker (Human Resources) and Keith Jones (Electronic Maintenance Services). New this year for the classified Employee of the Year is a year’s parking permit.

MEETING WITH DR. MCINTYRE and ALL EMPLOYEE FORUM IN THE FALL
Kari Taylor met with Dr. McIntyre. Their conversation focused on the recognition and acknowledgement of all members of the campus (civil service, administrative exempt staff, students, faculty, and administration). Dr. McIntyre indicated that she supported programs that helped to recognize and acknowledge all members of our CWU community. Also, she is open and receptive to new ideas. Dr. McIntyre would like to address all classified staff prior to fall, 2000. This address would focus on CWU's vision, mission, and goals. Finally, Dr. McIntyre is considering the possibility of appointing a civil service staff member to the President's Cabinet. This is just a preliminary consideration at this point.

PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION
The first meeting of the Presidential Inauguration Committee is scheduled for Friday, 5/26. Kari will be out of town, but Becky Baker will attend in her place. She will update at the June meeting.

DELEGATE FOR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT: UNIT B
Karen Simmons e-mailed Kari and indicated that she should be replaced by her alternate, Debbie Nethery, because Karen's schedule normally does not allow her to attend the Employee Council meetings. Debbie Nethery agreed to attend as the delegate.

HUMAN RESOURCES ANNOUCEMENTS:

-- New PERS 3 Retirement Plan Approved by Governor: The Governor signed the bill approving the new PERS 3 Retirement Plan. Active PERS 2 members will have from March 1, 2002 through August 31, 2002 to elect to transfer to PERS 3 or stay in PERS 2. The Department of Retirement Systems will provide information to employees about their choice.
-- Employee Retirement Plan Contribution Rates Go Down Again: The amount withheld from PERS 2, TRS 2, and LEOFF 2 member's checks for Retirement Plan contributions will be less, beginning with the May 25, 2000 checks. The employee contribution rates for PERS 2 members decreased from 1.85% to 1.54% of gross salary. TRS 2 member rates decreased from 8.68% to 6.26% of gross. LEOFF 2 member rates decreased from 5.87% to 5.41% of gross salary. Contribution rates for PERS 1 and TRS 1 remain unchanged.
-- Lower Retirement Age for Campus Police: The minimum retirement age for LEOFF members (Law Enforcement Officers and Fire Fighters) was decreased from age 55 to age 53.
-- Domestic Partner Benefits Still Under Consideration: The state's Joint Committee on Pension Policy (JCPP) is considering extending Health Insurance benefits to the domestic partners of state employees, beginning January 2001. The state budget did not include funding for this benefit. So, if the benefit is added, the monthly premiums for all employees will be increased to cover the full cost. A decision is expected by July 1, 2000.
-- Uniform Medical Forms: Uniform Medical forms are now on-line for departments wanting copies of claim forms at: http://www.wa.gov/hca/ump/members/forms.htm
-- Shared Leave: CWU employees may donate leave to a fellow employee who is severely ill or injured or has a family member who is severely ill or injured. "Severely" is defined as serious or extreme and/or life threatening. Recipients must be off work and have used all their paid leave to be eligible. Employees who wish to receive shared leave must notify Human Resources and submit a doctor's certificate.

The following individual is in need of shared leave: Robert (Randy) Carbary of Facilities Management.

Individuals interested in donating leave to Randy should request a Shared Leave donation form from Human Resources. Requests must be approved by your supervisor before forwarding the form to Human Resources. Donated leave is also subject to approval by your department head, and Human Resources. Annual leave may be donated in eight-hour blocks. Employees who wish to donate annual leave must retain at least ten days (80 hours) of vacation leave and cannot donate excess leave (that over 30 days or 240 hours) that he/she would otherwise lose at the beginning of the leave anniversary month. Sick leave may also be donated in eight-hour blocks. The donating employee must retain a minimum of 480 hours sick leave balance after the transfer. No more than six days of sick leave may be transferred during any twelve-month period. An employee’s personal holiday may also be donated. Forms for leave donation are available from Human Resources, 963-1202, and on the Human Resources web page at: www.cwu.edu/~hr/hrforms.htm
 

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
For those individuals who are too busy to take workshops during the quarter, we offer the following workshops during break.

Space is still available for two upcoming hands-on "Microsoft Access" workshops, titled Access Relationships, Queries, and Forms, and" Access Forms and Reports". Presented by Nancy Aft, there is a $30 fee to help cover expenses.

" Access Relationships, Queries, and Forms" will be held on June 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. This course will include importing tables into a database, using a Lookup field, creating relationships between tables, and working with queries. Pre-requisites: Understand the basics of Access and Windows. If you have previously taken "What is Access Anyway?" then you are ready for this next step.

" Access Forms and Reports" will be held on June 15, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and is a logical follow-up to the previous course mentioned.

In addition, consider attending one of the FREE one-hour "Byte Breaks", titled "Microsoft Word Styles". You have a choice of attending either at 10:30 a.m., or 3:00 p.m. on Monday, June 12. Word has built in styles such as "Normal" and "Headings" to format both characters and paragraphs. You can create your own styles, add them to templates, and even use them to create a table of contents. Nancy Taft will show you how!

For additional information, or to register, please contact the Training Office at 963-2288, or send e-mail to Lynn Hutchins at: hutchinl@cwu.edu

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

NEXT MEETING
The next meeting is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., June 15, 2000, in SUB 209. All representatives need to attend. Alternates are always welcome. If you are a representative and cannot make the meeting, be sure to let your alternate know so that he/she will attend.

Present:
Ann Arango, Library Services
Karol Barker, Dining Services
Marilyn Thompson, Housing & Residential Services
Kariann Taylor, Instructional Support: Unit A; Chair
Gene Wilson, Instructional Support: Unit A
Debbie Nethery, Instructional Support: Unit B
Elaine Long, Business & Admin Support: Unit A
Dorothy Tenney, Plant & Facilities

Absent:
Carola Alden, Student Services & SUB
Paula Moffatt, Business & Admin Support: Unit B
Mike Posada, Business & Admin Support: Unit B
Kevin Gentner, Dining Services
Leona Johnson, Library Services; Secretary
Kim Thomas, Business & Admin Support: Unit A
Ginger Linnell, Enrollment Management & Marketing
Karen Simmons, Instructional Support: Unit B
Jeri Francisco-Porter, Plant & Facilities
Pat Devlin, Plant & Facilities

Also Present:
Ona Youmans, Human Resources
Tamsin Swain, Academic Skills Program
Cheryl McKernan, Academic Skills Program